The New Kid
by pucktofaerie
Summary: A new intern arrives at the lab who has an unusual connection to Nick...and a mysterious attraction to Greg. Who knows what might happen here. Please R/R!


A/N- Hey peoples.  Ummm…let's see, as far as spoilers go, I don't think there are any.  No idea where this would take place, probably in the earlier seasons.  Definitely before Hank and all of the confusions things with Sara.  Asides from that, I don't know what else to tell you.  This is my first posted CSI fic, so be nice…flamers will be used to light up my Bunsen burner.  Not sure if this is going anywhere, but I wrote it, and finally decided that it wasn't doing any good sitting on my hard drive gathering virtual dust, so I thought I'd post it and see what kind of response I get.  Anyway, enough of my absent-minded ramblings, read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Would I be wasting my time writing fanfiction if I owned CSI? No, I'd be sitting by the pool watching Nick and Greg and Warrick display those wonderful bodies.  But, since I don't have a pool and the guys are nowhere in sight, then I guess I don't own them.  The only thing in this fic that I have claim to is Alexis Sandburg.  If you want to use her, please ask first.  So don't sue me, you won't get anything but a guitar and violin that both need new strings.

The New Kid

Chapter 1- Second time around

          A small figure made her way through the halls of the Los Vegas Criminalistics Labs.  Taking a brief look at the papers in her hand, she turned a corner, and began scanning the nameplates on the doors.  Finding the one she was looking for, she knocked.

          "Come in," answered a male voice from inside.  She opened the door and rather timidly, more timidly than she was used to.  'Get a grip,' she thought.  'This guy can't possibly be worst than the last one.'

          Gil Grissom barely looked up when the six-teen year old girl peeped into his office.

          "Mr. Grissom?" she asked, still a little on the timid side.  

          Grissom did look up at the unfamiliar voice.  Before him stood a teenage girl, young, someone that he didn't know.  He subconsciously took in every detail about her appearance, filing it away for future reference.  She was only about sixteen, short, only about 5'3", with long auburn hair that was tied back into a braid.  Inquisitive green eyes starred back at him, set off by a pale oval face.

          "Yes?" he answered.  

          She smiled.  At least this was the right guy.  She held out her hand in greeting.  "Hi, I'm Alex Sandburg."  He stared back at her blankly.  Her expression faltered, but only a moment.  "I'm with the internship program."  Still nothing.  Alex dropped her hand in mild defeat.  "You had no idea I was coming, did you?"

          Grissom finally managed to pull himself out of his funk.  "No, I'm sorry," he answered.  She paused, her smile faltering a little bit more.  

          "They, uh, said they were going to send you my file," she said, taking a step towards the desk.  Seeing a manila folder with her name on the tab lying on top of a pile on the corner of his desk, she allowed her smile to return to full force as she swooped it up.  "I think this is it," she said, handing it to him.  Grissom took it from her slowly, staring at her for a moment longer before opening it to view the contents. 

          "Alexis?" he asked.  She nodded quickly.  Grissom scanned through the rest of the contents quickly, then closed the folder and put it back on his desk. He looked up at the girl who stood before him.

          "If you're with the internship program, then why aren't you working with dayshift?" he asked.  Alex looked uncomfortable for a moment, but quickly recovered.

          "There was some…clashing, between me and Mr. Ecklie," she said finally.  Grissom only raised his eyebrows.  She sighed.  "Look, Ecklie had some problems with my background, as well as my wanting to help with things.  He wanted me to be a good little paper pusher and keep my mouth shut.  I'm no stranger to police work, Mr. Grissom, and if I had an idea for one of Ecklie's cases, I said so.  He didn't take too kindly to that, I can assure you.  Anyway, I had wanted to work with your crew initially, so I put in a request to be moved.  It worked with my schedule, so the sheriff decided, why not?"  Alex realizing that she was babbling and looked down briefly at her shoes.  Looking up at Grissom again, she was surprised to find him staring at her with an increased interest.

          "Okay," he said simply.  He laughed inwardly when he saw her face shift into surprise, then quickly back into its original expression.  He glanced at the clock and stood up.

          "I'll call the sheriff later to double check on some things, but until then, I guess we're stuck here.  Come with me, I'll introduce you to the troops."  With that, Grissom walked past Alex to the door of his office, and left.  Alex felt her mouth hanging open with surprise for a moment before she hurried after him down the hall.

          Alex followed her new boss into the break room, where the other CSI's were, waiting for their assignments.  They stopped talking when they walked in, noticing the new girl, and waited for an explanation from Grissom.

          "Guys, this is Alex Sandburg.  She's an intern who's been assigned to night shift.  I want you all to remember that she's here to _learn, so try to be a good example.  Alex, this is Catherine Willows, Warrick Brown, Sara Sidle, and…"_

          "Nicholas Stokes," Alex interrupted, a smile slowly spreading over her face.  Nick had already stepped up closer to the front of the room where she and Grissom were standing, a smile on his own face.

          "Yeah, I remember you," he said.  "You're that kid who was supposed to write to me to tell me all about your wonderful travels."  He crossed his arms across his chest and looked at her with a scowl.  Alex looked sheepishly at her sneakers.

          "Um, yeah, about that, uh…"

          "Well, I'll forgive you, of course," Nick said, his smile beginning to return.  "But then…"

          "You have too," they said together, laughing.  Alex finally stepped up to Nick, who wrapped her in a big bear hug.  

          "Man, Alex, last time I saw you, you were like, four feet high.  What happened girl?"

          "It's called growing up, man.  The last time _you saw me I was six."  She laughed.  "What are you doing here anyway?  I didn't know you had left Texas."_

          "Well, you know, things change," Nick answered, shrugging. 

          "So, you two know each other?" Sara asked, in her usual blunt way.  The two of them looked up, suddenly aware of the other people in the room.  Nick turned first to Grissom, who was leaning up against the door jam with his arms crossed, waiting for an explanation.

          "Yeah, uh, well, you see, Alex and me, uh…" Nick trailed off.

          "Nick is my godfather," Alex said simply.  Grissom just raised his eyebrows slightly.  She grinned, then looked back over her shoulder at Nick.  He just looked down at her.  

          "Okay," Grissom said simply.  He turned to address the rest of the group.  "Guys, it looks like we have a slow night.  So, if there's any paperwork you need to catch up on, I suggest that you do it." He pushed off the door jam, giving a silent dismissal.  He turned back to look at Alex.  "Nicky, if you don't have anything else to do, show our new intern around the lab.  If the rest of you want to help, have at it."  He turned and walked out of the lab, dreading the mountains of paperwork facing him in his office.  The others CSI's stood up, walking out of the layout room, shaking hands with Alex and telling Nick that they'd catch up with them later.  

          When they were alone, Nick clamped his hands on Alex's shoulders.  "Come on, Al, I'll show you around.  Let's get you acquainted with our resident lab rat."

          "You guys have a lab rat?" she asked, turning her head up to look at him.

          "Yeah.  We call him Greg," he answered, walking her towards the DNA lab.

          "Hey Greggo," Nick said as they walked in.  The young lab tech whirled around, switching off the boom box at the same time. 

          "Hey, Nick.  I, uh, don't think you had any thing in to be processed, did you?"

          "No, Greg.  I came to introduce you to somebody."  For the first time, Greg noticed Alex standing off to Nick's left.

          "Well, hello," Greg said, lowering his voice slightly, trying to sound sexy.  He took Alex's hand and raised it too his lips.  "And just who is it that I am having the pleasure of meeting?"

          "My goddaughter, Alex," Nick said, just as her hand reached Greg's lips.  He promptly dropped it, then looked away sheepishly.  Nick grinned, then looked down as his pager went off.  "Oh, man, that's Warrick.  I gotta go, but it'll only be a few minutes.  You gonna be okay here for a little bit, Al?"

          "Yeah, go, I'll be fine," she answered, grinning at him quickly before looking back at Greg.  They made eye contact and traded a smile.  Nick looked at them with a doubtful expression before turning to leave.

          "Behave," he told Greg, giving Alex one last glance before leaving.  Finally alone, Alex and Greg looked at each other, trading another grin.

          "So, uh, Nick's goddaughter, huh?  That sounds like fun," Greg said, making a feeble attempt to make conversation.

          "Well, seeing as how I haven't seen him in about ten years, I really wouldn't know," Alex answered, slowly taking in the surrounding lab.  She started to walk around Greg to get a better look at the equipment.  "So, this is DNA, right?  Looks like you guys have some really great equipment in here."

          Greg quickly spun around and leaned up against the counter.  "Well yeah, this is one of the top labs in the country.  Just below the FBI."

          "Wow, that's pretty impressive." 

          "So, if you don't mind my asking…"

          "You want to know why I'm here." Alex interrupted.  Greg looked at her in surprise.

          "Well, uh, yeah."

          Alex smiled.  "I'm with the internship program.  I actually didn't even know Nick was here until about ten minutes ago," she answered.

          Greg's eyes lit up.  "Internship program, huh?  So I guess that means you'll be around a lot." 

          Alex looked up at him from where she had been inspecting a machine and smiled again.  "Yeah, I guess I will be."

          "And you're gonna need somebody to help get you on the inside track around here.  I mean, Nick's great for showing you the ropes, but there are some other things that you're just better off learning from the pros.  Professionally speaking, of course."

          "Of course," Alex replied, nodding.  She noticed Nick coming up the hall over Greg's shoulder and straightened.  "Well Greg, I will be honored to learn all about the exciting world of DNA at the feet of the master.  But it looks like my tour guide is back, so…I'll see you later."  With that, Alex stepped past Greg and met Nick at the doorway, both of them walking out of the lab.  Greg smiled to himself as they left.

          "Master, huh?" 


End file.
